


Shot in the Dark

by SailorLestrade



Category: Mötley Crüe, The Dirt (2019)
Genre: Angst, Happy Ending, Hospitals, Injury, M/M, Shooting, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-26 23:17:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21108809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorLestrade/pseuds/SailorLestrade
Summary: Prompt: HospitalVince left Tommy on guy's night and Tommy decided to walk home.





	Shot in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SaintOfLosAngeles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintOfLosAngeles/gifts).

“Vince and I are going out for guys night,” Tommy told Nikki as he made him his omelet. “We haven’t been hanging out as much we used to and I thought it could be fun.”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds fun,” Nikki smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for breakfast. You’re cooking is amazing.”

“You can thank my mom for that,” Tommy smiled happily at Nikki. “I think we’re gonna go out to someplace on the strip. Not 100 percent yet.”

“Just don’t come back with your dick smelling like a burrito,” Nikki teased.

“Hey! That was your idea! I just went along with it,” Tommy shook his head. Nikki just gave him a smile before eating the food Tommy had made him.

They went about their day as normal, heading out to band practice where they met up with Vince and Mick. They played around for awhile, before Tommy and Vince decided to just ride together over to the strip.

“I’ll be home late,” Tommy told Nikki before giving him a kiss. “Don’t wait up too late.”

“You know me and my insomnia. I’ll probably be awake well after you come home,” Nikki smiled. “Love you babe.”

“Love you too,” Tommy kissed him again.

“Okay you two, that’s enough of that,” Vince laughed. “Let’s go. The beers not gonna drink itself!” Tommy smiled and kissed Nikki one more time before heading out with Vince, leaving Nikki and Mick to head back to their homes.

****

“Dude, check her out,” Tommy told Vince as they ate chicken wings and drank beer. A girl at the bar had been checking out the frontman all night, and Vince knew it.

  
  


“I know right? She’s pretty smokin’,” Vince smirked. “Might have to take her home.”

“Yeah? And leave me stranded here?” Tommy laughed.

“I’ll give you money for a cab?” Vince suggested. Tommy waved him off.

“I’m just teasing you man. Go nuts. Or, should I so, go nut?” He winked at Vince. Vince flipped him off before heading over to the girl. A few minutes later, Vince was leaving, giving Tommy a thumbs up.

It was close to midnight by then, and Tommy settled his tab and left the bar. He hadn’t drank that much, and the air was nice, so he decided to just walk. He looked up at the dark sky. The lights from LA made it hard to see any stars, but it made him think back to a night when him and Nikki went on a moonlight hike, how much fun it had been just the two of them, no one else.

“Hey man, you got some cash?” A guy asked him. By the twitch in the man’s movements, Tommy could tell that he was coming from off of whatever he was using.

“No, sorry,” Tommy went to walk past. He saw a glint in the street light as the man grabbed his arm and pointed a gun at him.

“I meant to say, give me your cash,” The man growled.

“I don’t have any,” Tommy told him, pulling his arm which caused the man to stumble. When he stumbled, he hit the trigger, causing the gun to off and the bullet to hit right in Tommy’s abdomen.

“Shit!” The guy yelled. “Oh fuck!” Tommy’s hands went to the wound and he pressed against it, blood coating his fingers. He stumbled back against the wall and slid down. The guy looked at the gun in his hand. “Help! He’s been shot!” He yelled. “Sorry.” He ran off, leaving Tommy sitting against the wall. Thankfully, someone heard the call and came over to find Tommy covered in his own blood, trying to hold it in.

“Holy shit, isn’t that Tommy Lee?” A girl asked as her boyfriend called 911.

“Fuck, I think it is,” The guy replied and relayed the information to the operator. Tommy tried to stay awake, to talk to the girl like she was begging him to, but soon, unconsciousness overtook him and he drifted off.

****

Nikki woke up the next morning to sun coming through the window. He honestly wasn’t sure when he had actually fallen asleep. All he knew was that he had actually slept, which is something that didn’t happen often, and Tommy’s side of the bed was empty. He slowly came to his senses and got out of bed, stretching and letting all his joints pop. He went about his morning ritual before heading down the stairs to the kitchen. The dogs were there, fast asleep, but there was no Tommy to be seen.

But, Nikki wouldn’t put it past Vince and Tommy to be too shitfaced to drive home, so they decided to sleep in the car. They had done it before, and Nikki was sure that was what happened this time.

“I’ll give him a bit before I go hunt down his hungover ass,” Nikki told the dogs when they realized Nikki was awake and came running. There was a little something in the back of his mind though, that kept saying just go look for him.

But an hour had gone by and Nikki hadn’t heard from neither Tommy nor Vince, and that little something in the back of his mind was growing, starting to bring out his worry.

“Okay, I’m going,” Nikki decided, slipping on his skeleton shoes and grabbing his keys. He headed over to the strip and looked around, trying to spot Vince’s car. He figured they had probably went to eat at the Rainbow, since that was their favorite place to eat at anyway. He made his way over and saw cop cars and a roped off scene.

“What’s going on?” Nikki asked one of the waitresses who was standing there, watching.

“There was a shooting early this morning,” She told him. “Cops came and got our security footage and all that.”

“Do you know who was involved?” Nikki asked.

“No. I haven’t been here very long. I do the brunch shift,”She explained. Nikki looked over to see Vince’s car pulling up and a long legged girl getting out of the passenger seat. Nikki made his way over to the flashy sports car. Vince got out.

“Nikki? What are you doing here?” Vince asked. He waved at the girl he had just dropped off as she got in her car and drove away.

“Tommy didn’t come home last night. I thought you two binged too hard and he was sleeping it off in your car,” Nikki told him. “But that sure as hell wasn’t him.”

“I left him here last night to take her home,” Vince told him. “He told me he’d get a cab or something.”

“Wait, so when you left, this hadn’t happened?” Nikki asked him, motioning to the crime scene behind them.

“No. What is it?” Vince asked.

“There was a shooting…” Nikki and Vince looked at each other before Nikki was scrambling for his cell phone, not even thinking of trying to call Tommy. But Tommy’s phone went straight to voicemail. So, he dialed the next number he could think of.

“Athena? It’s Nikki, have you heard from Tommy?” He leaned against Vince’s car.

“Um, actually, no, but I know where he is,” Athena told him. “I’m at Cedar-Sinai. Nikki, you need to get here.”

“Oh my god, Athena, was he…” Nikki started.

“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone,” The younger woman told him. “Please just come here. Go to emergency room entrance. I’ll meet you out there.”

“I’ll be there in a few,” Nikki told him. “I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone and looked over at Vince.

“Nikki?” Vince asked.

“You left him alone, and Athena’s at the hospital with him,” Nikki growled before marching off to his car, leaving Vince standing there, alone on the Sunset Strip.

****

Nikki never thought he was going to find a parking spot. He almost considered just paying to the valet at this point, but a big SUV pulled out and Nikki was able to take the spot before he was jogging up to the door. Tommy always teased him about jogging.

‘ _ It keeps you healthy, but at what cost? _ ’

He made his way through the emergency room doors and was immediately greeted by Athena, who nodded to a nurse who let them through a set of double doors to another waiting room.

“Athena, what’s going on?” Nikki asked, noticing her blotchy face and red eyes.

“Tommy, he...he was shot,” Athena whispered, almost like if she kept it quiet, it wouldn’t be real. “I talked to the police just a bit ago. The looks of it, he was shot during a mugging by some tweaker.” Athena started to cry again and Nikki pulled her to him, letting her cry into his chest.

“I-it’s going to be okay,” Nikki told her as he hugged her. “Tommy’s going to be okay, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Athena pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Why was he out on the strip alone last night?”

“He wasn’t,” Nikki told him. “Or, at least, he wasn’t supposed to be. Him and Vince were supposed to be having a guys night.”

“Let me guess, Vince found a hot chick?” Athena asked as they took seats finally.

“Hot to him maybe,” Nikki sighed. “I thought I was first on his in case of emergency list.”

“You are, but they tried you and you didn’t answer,” Athena told him. Nikki pulled out his phone and looked.

Sure enough, he had missed calls from a California number that he assumed was probably the hospital. He groaned and held his head in his hands. If he had heard his phone, or bothered to check it before now, he could’ve been here much sooner. Not that it would do any good, because it was just a waiting game now.

****

“The bullet missed all major arteries,” The doctor told Nikki and Athena much later. “It did slightly nick his spleen, and we are going to watch that closely. He is currently resting in the ICU, and will probably be out for a few days.”

“Is there a risk for infection?” Nikki asked. He wanted to know everything, so he knew how to take care of Tommy when he could finally go home.

“With any kind of injury, there is always a risk of infection,” The doctor told him. “But if you follow all the procedures that we’ll give come discharge, infection won’t even get near him.”

“When can we see him?” Athena asked this time.

“You both can see him right now, because we only allow two visitors at a time, and only one of you can stay overnight with him,” The doctor explained. They both nodded and followed him to the ICU, where Tommy was in a small room by himself. “There will be a lot of tubes and sensors and such. Be careful if you touch him, okay?”

“We will. Thank you for saving him,” Nikki told the doctor, who smiled and nodded before leaving. Athena and Nikki headed into Tommy’s small room and took in the sight in front of them.

Tommy, laying there on the bed with his eyes closed. He normally had color to his skin, but right now, he was the palest that Nikki had ever seen him, and that was including the time they got food poisoning from eating questionable food from a gas station somewhere out east. He had a blood transfusion, and monitors and suddenly Nikki found himself with large tears falling down his face and Athena leading him over to a chair to sit down.

“Oh my god,” Nikki whispered. Athena rubbed his back as she looked over at her big brother. It was hard for her to see Tommy like this, but it had to be even worse on Nikki. He loved Tommy, it was obvious, even if neither Nikki nor Tommy had been able to see it at first. They had been through so much, and honestly, at this point, Athena saw them more as husbands and less like boyfriends.

“He’s going to be okay,” Athena assured him. Nikki just nodded and looked up at Tommy.

Nikki thought time was moving slow, but before he knew it, Athena was getting ready to leave, promising to be back the next morning and to let Vince and Mick know what was going on.

“That asshole doesn’t care,” Nikki growled. “He left him to be in this position.”

“Nikki, he didn’t know that there was a junkie out there with a gun,” Athena told him. “If he did, he wouldn’t have left Tommy there by himself.”

“I don’t care,” Nikki turned his attention back to Tommy, who hadn’t moved an inch since they came in.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” She quietly left the room, leaving Nikki sitting right by Tommy’s bed. There was a small TV in the room, but Nikki didn’t feel like turning it on right now.

“I should’ve called you when you didn’t come home,” Nikki whispered. “I should’ve been looking for you. Fuck, Tommy, I’m so sorry.” He let his eyes scan across Tommy’s face, hoping for any sign of movement, but not seeing any. “Please don’t leave me. We’ve been through so much already. And I don’t know if I can handle losing you.” He held one of Tommy’s hands in his and started the waiting game.

****

Athena came back the next day with food for Nikki. He took it and ate, knowing that if he didn’t, his stomach would not let him forget it. They made small talk, but soon, there was a nurse standing at the door.

“Mr. Sixx?” She said softly. Nikki looked up at her. “There’s a gentleman out in the waiting room that says he’s a friend of yours and Mr. Lee’s. He said his name is Mick?” Nikki looked at Tommy.

“Go on,” Athena told him. “I’ll come get you if anything changes.” Nikki sighed and headed out to the waiting room, where Mick was sitting in a chair, waiting.

“These things are not good on my back,” Mick joked when he saw Nikki. “Damn, you don’t look like you’ve slept.”

“I haven’t,” Nikki sighed. “Afraid of what happens if I do go asleep.”

“How bad is it?” 

“I, uh, I don’t really know…” Nikki admitted, sitting by Mick. “The doctor said that he’s going to be fine, but he hasn’t woke up…” He ran a hand down his face. “This is all Vince’s fault.”

“What? How?” Mick asked.

“He left Tommy on their guys night. He drove him and left him. So Tommy decided to walk instead of getting a cab and he got shot,” Nikki shook his head. “It’s all his fault.”

“Did Vince know that Tommy was going to get shot?” Mick asked. “Because no matter how much they get pissed at each other, I know that Vince would never want to see anything like this happen to the kid. We’re all on good terms for the first time in, like, ten years, and I don’t think Vince would do anything to ruin that.”

“I guess,” Nikki sighed. “I just don’t understand why he left him.”

“Vince and Tommy share a brain cell sometimes. They don’t think things through,” Mick explained. “And if it was over a girl, Vince has two brains and only enough blood to power one at a time.” Nikki laughed a little.

“That’s the most accurate description I’ve heard,” Nikki smiled. “I needed that.”

“Vince wanted to come see you, but I guess his assumption was correct that he thought you were pretty pissed at him. So I told him I’d give him updates and let him know when Tommy was awake and all that shit.”

“Tell him to just give me a day or two, or maybe he should wait until Tommy wakes up. He can only have two visitors at a time anyway…”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mick stood up and groaned. “I’ll see you later Sixx. Call if anything changes.”

“I will,” Nikki stood up and hugged the guitarist before heading back to Tommy’s room.

****

On day three, Nikki was forced to shower. The male nurses took pity on him and let him use their locker room so he didn’t have to go home. Athena had brought him clothes that she had grabbed from a store not too far away from the hospital. She was the designated errand runner, and she was fine with it. It gave her something to do, because she honestly couldn’t stand there and watch Tommy sleep for a minute longer.

“They found the guy who shot him,” Athena told Nikki when he got out of the shower. “Picked him up for dealing and he admitted to the whole thing before they even could compare his picture to the one on the camera.”

“Good. Fucker.” Nikki spat.

“Heroin,” She told him. “That’s what he was dealing.”

“It’s an evil drug. Trust me, I know,” Nikki turned his attention back to Tommy, using any amount of energy he could to will Tommy awake.

****

Nikki had nightmares when he slept. Dreams that Tommy didn’t survive and he left Nikki behind. So he didn’t want to sleep, but after so many hours awake, he had to.

Except for the last time he fell asleep, he was awoken by Tommy’s hand twitching in his. Nikki’s eyes snapped open and he watched as Tommy’s eyes fluttered open for the first time in days. He knew that he wouldn’t stay awake long, but fuck, he was waking up.

“Come back to me baby,” Nikki ran his fingers through Tommy’s hair. Tommy’s eyes finally opened and he gave Nikki a small smile before falling back asleep.

And honestly, that was good enough for Nikki.

****

It was a couple days later Tommy was moved from the ICU and could have more visitors. Of course, Mick was there, but Vince stayed out in the hallway, not sure if he should come in or not. The whole time Tommy had been in the hospital, Vince had been kicking himself. It was bad enough with Razzle, but if he had caused Tommy’s death…

“Get that blond fucker in here,” Tommy said with a bit of a laugh. He was staying awake longer each day, and Nikki was so damn happy for that. Mick dragged Vince in. “Hey Vinnie.”

“Uh, hey,” Vince waved a little. “Glad to see you’re okay…”

“I got the good shit,” Tommy smiled. “Of course I’m okay.”

“And as annoying as ever,” Mick teased, making Tommy stick his tongue out at the guitarist. Tommy looked over at Vince, who was still standing in the corner.

“Hey Nik, could you and Mick go grab us some drinks from the cafeteria?” Tommy asked, looking over at the bassist. Nikki looked towards Vince and nodded.

“Come on MIck, I could use the extra hands,” Nikki stood and lead the guitarist out of the room, leaving Vince and Tommy alone.

“Tommy, I’m sorry,” Vince said after a couple seconds of silence. “I…”

“Vince, stop,” Tommy told him. “You didn’t know it was going to happen, I didn’t know it was going to happen.”

“It was supposed to be our guys night. I shouldn’t have left you,” Vince took a seat by Tommy’s bed. “I just...I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from leaving. Then we wouldn’t even be here right now.”

“Vince, please stop blaming yourself,” Tommy told him. “I’m alive. Isn’t that the important thing?”

“Yeah,” Vince nodded. “I’m still sorry.”

“You buy me some wings to make up for it, okay?” Tommy smiled. Mick and Nikki came back a moment later with the drinks to find Vince and Tommy arguing about some sports scores.

“Well, I see you two are back on good terms,” Nikki teased.

“Weren’t ever on bad terms,” Tommy smirked at his boyfriend.

“I think the 90’s would say something different,” Mick shook his head with a laugh. The band hung out in Tommy’s room until Vince and Mick finally made their exit, leaving Nikki and Tommy there together.

“Hey babe,” Tommy whispered after a little bit. Nikki looked over at him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m not leaving you, I hope you know that.”

Nikki smiled softly and picked up Tommy’s hand, kissing the back of it.

“I won’t let you anyway,” He told him, to which Tommy just laughed, before settling in for some rest.

With Nikki right there, watching out over him.


End file.
